i just love...

...lazy Sundays!!

do unto others

Today was spent doing things for other people. My mother has broken her foot and I went to help her do some things. Mr. D. mowed her yard. I helped her by bringing her some things to do if she gets bored- magazines, books, crocheting. I also brought her in her groceries for the week. Of course I must report that I could not stick to her list and brought her more than she asked for. I took her to my Grandfather's house. I cleaned his apartment and did 4 loads of his laundry. We picked up Mr. D.'s favorite BBQ for dinner. Then I went for a visit with my Grandmother. I went to put a few little scarecrows on my Daddy's and other Grandfather's graves. We visited for a little while longer and then we drove home. I know I will sleep well tonight!

could it be???

The first sign of Fall at my house!

Thursday 13: thirteen text messages I received today

1) "Matt looks funny posing as Gramye"
2) "we have poo"
3) "now they want them so disregard"
4) "call me"
5) "I totally want a hedgehog"
6) "not yet- in a hefty negotiation"
7) "U guys can go without me and I can catch up"
8) "car in 20 secs- coz in 18 mins or home in 22"
9) "JB is so mean he will not let me turn on the gas logs- it is 61 outside"
10) "Aww that is so sad! She has lasted a good while"
11) "Where R U?"
12) " go to cuteoverload- you and XS are the otters"
13) ...Meghan said she sent, but since she has the world worst cell phone, I probably will not get it for 10 days.

guess what I have!!

I recently hosted a Pampered Chef Catalog Show. I sent out an email to a few friends and tonight I will reap the rewards. I will post pics of my goodies once I get into the boxes!!

Brady-inator

So, I have been wanting something for about 6 months now. It was kind of pricey so I have been hesitant. Then today, I just couldn't resist anymore. I bought this.

Now some of you are thinking- what is it? This is called a furminator- and in short it is a doggy miracle. It is a tool used to remove the loose undercoat of the dogs fur, thus helping with shedding. I came home and went to work on the unsuspecting Brady.

About 15 minutes later--- this is the scene from the porch....

Crazy HUH?? I know- It is a lot of hair! I continued on for a few more minutes and by the end I was able to 1/2 way fill a plastic grocery bag with hair. I then treated Brady to a doggy shower. We used a new shampoo and now Brady is not only clean- but smells clean as well. It turns out we really did have a 30 lb dog, and the extra 57 unexpected pounds were hair just waiting to be furminated. Just kidding!!

I just love love love my happy, clean, lovable, playful, silly, fun little (ok- big) puppy (ok-dog)!

tales from my weekend

I could give you 51 and a half reason not to go to the State Fair. I don't know why I thought it would be spectacular-- but it wasn't. We went with Kelly and Meghan. It was $5 to park. We each had to pay $8 to get in. This didn't include rides which would have been $20 each, but we passed on that. We looked at the animals, most of which were drastically underweight and miserable looking. We walked around. Meghan and Kelly each ate a hand-dipped corn dog at $3 each. Mr. D. had a funnel cake at $5. I had french fries at $3. Then for some reason Meghan and I each gave a quarter to a monkey. It was a pretty creepy experience. Pretty much we all spent the rest of the afternoon in shock at what a waste of our time and money it was. Thank goodness we had the Wii Fit to play to console us.

This morning I totally did something for myself. I made my favorite cookies. This is a rare event because I usually try to only make things that both Mr. D. and I eat. I have been wanting these cookies lately- so I just made some. Mr. D. tried them and reports "they are O.K.". They are super super yummy to me. Here is a picture and the recipe. The recipe made 35 cookies. I love how my kitchen bar looks like a little assembly line in this picture.

Boiled Cookies

Lay out waxed paper for the cookies before you begin.

In a saucepan combine 2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk.

Stir constantly over high heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 2 tsp of vanilla.

Once peanut butter is melted, stir in 3 cups of quick oats. Stir and drop cookies on the waxed paper.

I like mine warm. Some people like pecans added- I don't. We plugged it into the weight watchers and it is 2 points per cookie. They are so yummy!!!

This afternoon, I went to a special little lady's birthday party.

Eden turned 7 with a "Luck of the Irish" party that looked like something straight out of Southern Living Magazine. I swear her mom should go into party planning. She thinks of a thousand little details that I would never even think of. The drink of choice was 7 up for the 7th birthday, there were Irish Dancers, Irish games and splashes of shamrocks everywhere. Oh- and for the Alice fans.....

She was spotted doing her favorite thing-- eating icing!!

I came home and Mr. D. cooked us dinner. We had pork tenderloin, mac and cheese and corn. I of course had cookies for dessert.

Mr. D. also washed, dried and folded all of the dirty laundry in the house today. He is such a great help around the house and I am so lucky to have him.

Now, if the Patriots could just get their act together....

it's game day

Wii (are getting more) Fit

This morning my Wii age was 42 and Mr. D. was 43. Looks like we are getting more fit after only one day. The age is basically based on balance and coordination-- which I will admit are not my strong suit!

Wii (aren't so) Fit

Today, I got my Wii Fit. All other obligations had to be put on the back burner. I love it. I played for 25 minutes. Mr. D. is on there now. I like the games. I am not sure if I will get "fit" by doing it. But it will be fun trying to. Per Wii Fit, I am 58 and Mr. D. is 51.

the great cake debacle

I really don't know where to start.

Tonight, Mr. D. needed me to make a few cakes for something at his work tomorrow. I thought it would be a great time to use the bread starter I have been cultivating. I found a recipe for double chocolate cake. Sounds good enough. I went to the market and picked up a few ingredients that I was out of. I decided to double the recipe and make a little something for my coworkers as well. Meanwhile, I am cooking spaghetti for Meghan and Kelly. I decided that while I had the starter out I would make some bread sticks to go with our dinner. I whip that up and put the dough in to rise. I start making the cakes. I knew I needed to double the recipe. Things are going along smoothly until I realized I glanced at the bread stick recipe and put twice the amount of starter that I needed. So instead of doubling the recipe, I had to go back and quadruple the recipe. I was so sad and frustrated and wanted to scream all at the same time. I don't even had a bowl that big and there was just lots and lots of batter everywhere. I decided to mix it except the flour, divide it in half and work in the flour. 1st double batch I cook 4 loaves for Mr. D. to take to his work thing and a 10 inch round pan full for us to eat. I kept making a joke " the next person who calls my cell phone wins a cake." Anyway, the cakes baked, we ate dinner. The bread sticks-- which I made into rolls in my debacle turned out fabulous. I took the cakes out and decided to make a 9 by 13 cake with the remaining batter. Well, it turns out that I had never added the flour to this one. I realized it about 20 minutes after I put it in the oven. Who know what that will taste like. So here is it folks, adventures from the great cake debacle. There is a lot to be said for just picking up something at the Bakery instead.

my evening

Tonight, I got to see two of my favorite girls!

Meghan and I went to dance with Alice and Eden. Alice went in first and we hung out in the lobby with Eden. Then Eden went in and we hung out in the lobby with Alice. It was so fun spending time with the sweeties again. After dance, we met their parents and Mr. D. for dinner. It was great catching up with old friends.

NFL Football observations

The Red Zone channel is actually football for the ADD.

Dear Tom Brady,

Dear Tom Brady,

I am so sorry that I was the cause of your injury last Sunday. I had no idea that my wearing a different pair of shorts last week would cause you to miss out on the entire season. Thank goodness I had my husband around to let me know that I was to blame. I have since put those shorts away as to not hurt anymore of our beloved Patriots. Please rest assured that we are not changing our dog's name to Cassel.

Your loyal fan,

Sandy D.

Thursday 13: thirteen yearbook pictures of me

So, I found a little something to keep me entertained-- here are 13 yearbook pictures of me.

where were you?

I am curious as to where my readers were on September 11, 2001. If you feel comfortable, please share your memories of that day.

12 step program averted

Blackberry is SAVED!!! Whoo Hoooo--- I guess the water part just had to dry out. Anyway, but the time Mr. D. came to pick me up to go and buy the new Blackberry, this one just happened to come on.... talk about a presidential pardon. I am not sure if it is a total recovery, but so far I have received a call, and can text. I haven't received any emails, but that may be that I just haven't gotten any to receive. Who knows..... I am just glad --- OK that was weird, I just typed this and my phone started chiming with emails-- 34 to be exact!! Guess I am back in business!!

I am excommunicated

I killed Blackberry--- my beloved companion.
As a result, no one can get in touch with me. I am so sad.

recap

I hope I have not totally lost all of my readers by my lack of blogging as of late. I apologize- yet again for being a total slacker. Here is a recap. We went on vacation with Mr. D.'s family.

I always enjoy going to the mountains. We had wonderful weather and fun with each other. It is rare that all 4 of the siblings and their spouses/significant others are together for a long period of time- but whenever it does happen it is always fun! We went shopping, played at the lake, played a lot of Wii-- which I love to do! I learned to play a new card game, which I would love to play again. We ate great food and enjoyed each other's company.

When we got back, Mr. D and I started a busy week. Even thought this week was only 4 working days, we felt like it was a very long week and by last night, we were exhausted.

I did something this week that I have never done before-- I drafted a fantasy football team. I am not really "in to" football, but my coworkers started a league, so I joined. I will have to tune into the games tomorrow and see how my players did. Here is who is on my team, and on my bench.

1. Payton Manning
2. Steve Jackson
3. Jamal Lewis
4. Ronnie Brown
5. Calvin Johnson
6. Chad Johnson
7. Tony Gonzalez
8. Colts Defense
9. Neil Rackers
10. Chris Cooley
11. Matt Schaub
12. Patrick Crayton
13. Benjamin Watson
14. Eagles Defense
15. Justin Fargas
16. Rian Lindell
    

On vacation, my Mother-in-law gave me the most incredible gift ever. It is a market tote. We all got to choose one. Mine is the blue one of course. I took it to school this week with all of my things in it. I got so many compliments on it. I love it!!!

In addition to the fabulous Market Tote, my MIL also sent these beautiful flowers. Love them!

Mr. D. and I had a special guest to the house this morning. I made my friend Beth's peach biscuits. I of course have only made a good biscuit one time, so I made these in a muffin tin instead. They were delicious!

Speaking of entertaining, tomorrow is the first Sunday of the NFL season. Mr. D. is pumped about it. Here is a picture of Brady already assuming the football position.

We are having a few friends over and I will be making gumbo and shrimp po boys. I am very excited about this. I have been thinking about it all day today and can hardly wait. Oh- and speaking of good things I have cooked- I have made the bread with the bread starter. I took it to the mountain and Meredith and I made super yummy cinnamon rolls.

I think this has you all caught up. Sorry if I left anything out. If I think of anything I will update you later. Enjoy the weekend.